Patients report feeling a little, if any, during and after procedure.

Patients are walking immediately following the procedure, and typically resume non-strenuous, normal activities within one day.

Many people notice an immediate relief of symptoms such as pain, leg heaviness, and fatigue. The full benefits of treatment may take several weeks.

Persons report minimal to no scarring, bruising, or swelling following the ablation and vein treatment procedures.

During vein stripping, multiple incisions are made and a stripper tool is threaded through to pull the vein out of the leg. With the ablation procedure, only one small puncture is made at the insertion site and the vein is then closed and left in place. This minimally invasive approach eliminates pain and bruising associated with vein surgery.

The vein treatment procedures treat diseased veins only, which are not appropriate for bypass surgery. Physicians can use other healthy vessels if bypass is necessary.

Medicare and most major insurers cover the procedures when medically indicated.

What are varicose veins? They’re those bulging veins on your legs, not to be confused with spider veins, those netty clumps of smaller veins.

Varicose veins tend to be larger. They also tend to be indicative of a more serious case of venous insufficiency, unlike spider veins, which are often an isolated cosmetic issue.

But what causes varicose veins and what can be done about them?

The Nuts and Bolts of Venous Insufficiency

Venous insufficiency can be a serious condition. If you have varicose veins, it’s enough of an issue that it at least warrants being checked out by a doctor.

But what is it exactly? Essentially, venous insufficiency is weakness in the vein’s valves. When the vein’s valves are too weak, blood can’t be pumped back to the heart properly.

Why does this happen? Veins have to work hard because they’re fighting against gravity. Therefore, if for any reason the vein’s valves are weakened, then blood can backflow. Not only can it backflow, but blood can pool, causing all sorts of circulatory issues.

In fact, serious cases of venous insufficiency can lead to ulcers forming and an inability to fully heal wounds.

Other conditions that can coincide with venous insufficiency include an achy, burning, fatigued, or itching feeling in the legs and possibly even restless legs syndrome.

What Can Be Done About Varicose Veins?

The most common treatments to get rid of varicose veins are Sclerotherapy and laser vein treatment. Both of these collapse veins so that blood can reroute itself through a more efficient route through the body.

Otherwise, individuals can try compression garments or elevating the legs in order to help blood flow back to the heart.

Want to know what else can be done about your varicose veins? Call the Vein Center of Maryland to schedule an appointment.

We are conveniently located in Westminster, Eldersburg, Baltimore, Hunt Valley and Bel Air.

We also service Ellicott City and Columbia in Howard County.

What’s sclerotherapy? If you’ve ever suffered from spider veins or varicose veins, you know that they can be both a cosmetic issue that can be embarrassing, as well as a medical issue.

Because spider veins and varicose veins can be a sign of a deeper venous insufficiency, it’s sometimes recommended that an individual goes through sclerotherapy to treat their veins.

What’s Venous Insufficiency?

Venous insufficiency is mostly what the name implies. It’s when the veins lack the capability of sending blood back to the heart.

The veins show up as either spider veins or varicose veins. Spider veins are the clumpy nets of veins that are blue and purple, while the varicose veins are the larger bulging veins.

Essentially, veins have to work harder because they work against gravity. When the valves in the veins aren’t able to pump the blood back fully, backflow can occur, and blood can pool.

What can cause venous insufficiency? Aging, hormonal issues, and many other factors.

So what’s sclerotherapy? Essentially, sclerotherapy is when a series of microinjections of a “sclerosant” solution is injected into the vein in order to collapse the vein. This might sound odd, but it’s a highly effective solution.

When the doctor performs sclerotherapy and the vein collapses, the blood actually reroutes itself into a more efficient path. So not only do the cosmetic issues of the vein disappear, but the deeper venous insufficiency is treated. Overall, the circulation of the patient in general is improved, and the treated veins are gradually reasborbed by the body.

To perform the sclerotherapy, sometimes doctors opt to use ultrasounds in order to guide their treatment. Sclerotherapy is not a painful treatment, nor does it have any downtime.

Want to know more about sclerotherapy and how it can resolve your venous issues? Call the Vein Center of Maryland to schedule an appointment.

We are conveniently located in Westminster, Eldersburg, Baltimore, Hunt Valley and Bel Air.

We also service Ellicott City and Columbia in Howard County.